<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655738358507,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017c-2d8e-d3f3-a7fc-7ffef6720000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655738358507,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017c-2d8e-d3f3-a7fc-7ffef6720000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55738217", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1035022"} }); ","_id":"00000181-81b2-dd13-a9fb-99be47b70000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe encrypted messaging service Telegram is adding premium options after seeing a consistent surge in users over the last year and striving to become one of the top alternative social networks.
The app saw its monthly active users surge to more than 700 million, according to a Sunday blog post, a notable increase from its 500 million monthly users in January 2022. The surge comes after the platform was adopted by protesters, conspiracy theorists, and political organizers.
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Premium users will receive 4-gigabyte file uploads, faster downloads, exclusive stickers and reactions, and an expansion of user capabilities. This includes the ability to follow up to 1,000 channels, organize chats into up to 20 folders, and no ads.
The premium tier was alluded to by Telegram founder Pavel Durov in a public post. While the company has not released the expected price, it appears to be priced somewhere between $4.99 and $6 per month, depending on a user’s location, according to TechCrunch.
The addition of a premium subscription is a first in the instant messaging service market because the majority of Telegram’s competitors relies on ads or paid purchases for financing.
The Dubai-based messaging platform has been around for nearly a decade but has seen a massive surge in interest in the last two years. While some users have adopted the platform because of stricter content rules from Big Tech companies such as Twitter and Facebook regarding vaccine skepticism or allegations of election integrity, others did so after a worldwide shortage at Meta’s headquarters took down WhatsApp, an integral tool for business outside the United States.
The encrypted messaging app has also become critical for certain organizers. Multiple conservative groups have adopted the app as their primary tool for organizing protests, such as the Ottawa trucker convoys. It has also played a role in helping critics of the Belorussian government gather to protest the Russian ally’s authoritarian regime.
Telegram has also become the primary communication tool for certain pro-Trump personalities, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood.
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Telegram has also become an important tool for organizing in Ukraine as residents attempt to provide unfiltered news updates amid the Russian invasion. While the platform is regularly used by Ukraine’s government to communicate, there are still some security concerns about the app’s encryption.
“I do have reasons to believe that there is not full integrity,” Janis Sarts, the director of NATO’s Strategic Communications Center of Excellence in Riga, Latvia, told the Washington Examiner. “Certainly, I would not see it as a secure platform.”
